I’m thinking of an effect I may need to create and was wondering if anyone could add their insight.

A still surface of water with something breaking out from underneath the water, object exits view and finally the water returns to its original state. I would need it to be very realistic. I’m not too concerned with the shaders or lighting, just the animation. Any ideas? I’ve been reading all the threads on water drops and such and have come to the conclusion either a plug-in or use something like RealFlow. Thoughts? I’d rather stay all within Max itself. Maybe a plug-in but would rather not spend the extra cash.

James C. Hill

For best results you do want some plugin like realflow or glu3d. But you may be able to fake it with pflow and blobmesh, along with some deformation of the water surface, either a modifier like ripple, or reactor water.